


Not Quite A Caper

by Writers_clock



Series: Signed in Crimson: A Collection of Julethief One-Shots [3]
Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Coffee, F/F, First Dates, Fluff, Love Confessions, i love them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:48:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29163729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writers_clock/pseuds/Writers_clock
Summary: Julia finds Carmen at her favorite library, and wonders what on earth she could be doing there of all places.Requests open
Relationships: Julia "Jules" Argent/Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep
Series: Signed in Crimson: A Collection of Julethief One-Shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2131176
Comments: 9
Kudos: 116





	Not Quite A Caper

**Author's Note:**

  * For [booklovingelephants](https://archiveofourown.org/users/booklovingelephants/gifts).



> Shoutout to booklovingelephants for requesting this!! It was super cute to write:)

Julia rarely had time to herself.

Not that she was complaining: she loved her job, loved the research, loved catching criminals, loved all of it. But it took up  _ so much  _ of her time. She was  _ very  _ glad when Chief told her to take the weekend off, so here she was. Spending her time at one of her favorite places: a library.

A shocker, she knew. 

She waved at the librarian and began her hunt for the perfect books to borrow. She was restraining herself to three, most likely all from the nonfiction section. Probably all history books too, if she was being honest. As she scanned the shelves, her mind began to wander.

And, as always, it went to Carmen.

Carmen Sandiego was an anomaly. A paradox. A contradiction. A thousand other words that Julia would need a dictionary to define. She was a mystery to ACME. Admittedly, Julia had done additional research on Carmen in her own time. ACME’s resources  _ were _ top notch, so it would be a shame not to use them.

Carmen Sandiego was a thief.

Carmen Sandiego was a hero.

Carmen Sandiego was the pretty girl who sat across her on the train, flirted a little, then dropped off the Magna Carta. 

At the time, Julia wasn’t really able to think properly. Her mind had been caught up with thoughts of where Devineaux had run off to, or  _ why  _ this woman had sat across from Julia when there were plenty of other seats. She had only realized afterwards that this was, indeed, the thief she was supposed to catch. Julia then understood how Carmen was able to seamlessly blend in anywhere. She was charismatic, she was beautiful, she was friendly, she was-

_ Perhaps  _ now wasn’t the time for her to be focusing on that. She yanked herself from her thoughts and studied the books on the shelves. Just as her eye caught a particularly interesting one, she saw a flash of crimson.

Julia reflexively twisted to find the source of the red. It had disappeared nearly as quickly as it had come. There wasn’t much over where she saw the red: a storage unit, by the looks of it, and a window. There were a couple shelves between her and the window. Julia blinked. Had she imagined it? Probably. It wasn’t likely that Carmen Sandiego was here. There wasn’t much to steal (or prevent one from stealing) at a little library in Poitiers.

Just as Julia had convinced herself that she was crazy, she heard a  _ clink!  _ She ducked behind a shelf. What if it was VILE? On the other hand, what if it was Carmen? It wasn’t like Julia cared if it was Carmen or not. That would be bad news, now that she thought about it, because it would mean someone was trying to steal nearby.

She peeked out from behind the shelf to see that it was, in fact, the one and only Carmen Sandiego, climbing in from the window. She didn’t appear to have seen Julia.

“Absolutely not,” Julia muttered, hiding back behind the shelf. This was her day off. She was  _ not  _ going to get involved. She was going to get her books, check out, and then leave.

_ But… what if she needs help?  _ Julia snuck another look to see Carmen closing the window she had swung in through. Carmen was perfectly capable of handling things on her own, of course, but Julia had helped her before.

_ I’ll just keep an eye on the situation,  _ she decided. Just in case. She crept forward, her eyes still on Carmen. If the lady in red saw her, she didn’t show it. Carmen stuffed a black sack in her pocket, turned her head ever so slightly, and winked.

Julia immediately dodged behind a shelf.  _ She saw me! I have to get out of here. Maybe she’ll think I’m a hallucination.  _ She turned around to make a swift exit and saw Carmen Sandiego herself standing there.

“Hey Jules,” Carmen greeted. “How’s it hanging?”

_ Oh no. _

“Oh! Just… picking up some books. I was gonna do some… light reading,” Julia chuckled.  _ Not watching you or anything. I mean, I was, but that’s because it looked like you were fighting VILE, not because you’re gorgeous or anything.  _ “Uhm… what about you?”

Carmen shrugged. “Business as usual.” She picked up a book off the shelf. “Might I recommend  _ The Art of War  _ by Sun Tzu? It’s pretty interesting.” She turned the book over once, examining it. 

“I’ve already read it,” Julia said absentmindedly, staring. Carmen caught her eye and she flushed. “I mean, it was really good. It was the first… you know.” She swallowed. Something about Carmen made her lose her train of thought. “Anyway, uhm… I wouldn’t want to take up any of your time…”

Carmen shrugged. “It’s no problem. We rarely see each other outside of work, but maybe that should change.” Julia almost laughed at the fact Carmen called her adventures of running around and stealing things  _ “work” _ , then realized that wasn’t the part she should focus on.

“You… want to spend time with me?” Julia asked, deadpan. Carmen’s cheeks flushed; she wasn’t used to Julia being this straightforward. Frankly, Julia hadn’t seen it coming either. Usually she and Carmen played a game of sorts. A tone that could be taken as flirtatious, a comment that caught one of them off guard. A pause, a glance, a thousand little nothings that added up to the enourmous secret that Julia was keeping.

Carmen shrugged. “You haven’t tried to arrest me yet. I have a right to be a little curious, don’t you think?” She raised a brow, a gleam in her eye. “And you’ve been studying up on my capers?”

“You steal things only to return them,” Julia pointed out, crossing her arms. “I have a right to be a little curious, don’t you think?”

Carmen’s smile grew. “Touché.” She leaned forward suddenly, her hat shadowing Julia’s face. Julia didn’t dare to move as Carmen whispered, “Meet me at your favorite cafe in two hours.” Not one to fall into predictability, she pressed her lips to Julia’s cheek and disappeared.

Perhaps, Julia thought to herself, she was like a computer, and was recalibrating. That was a good explanation for why it took her about a minute to move again, and another for everything to fully set in. 

_ How does she know my favorite cafe? _

  
  


_ “This is a really absurd plan, you know. Zack bet Ivy twenty bucks that it would backfire,”  _ Player informed Carmen. She ignored him, tapping her fingers nervously. She was early to their meeting at the cafe, unsurprisingly.  _ “Why don’t you just, I don’t know, ask her on a date instead of pretending like you’re fighting VILE and then inviting her to a cafe?” _

“I didn’t  _ pretend  _ anything,” Carmen huffs. “Maybe a little, but I didn’t  _ lie.  _ Besides, being upfront about things isn’t really my style.” She liked Jules, a  _ lot, _ and messing this up seemed catastrophic.

_ “I know,”  _ Player sighed.  _ “You’re lucky that I’m helping you get a date. Keeping track of what your favorite ACME agent does is hard work.” _

“I owe you one,” Carmen admitted. “Thanks, Player. She’s here, so I’m heading offline.” She clicked the communicator off, watching Julia walk into the cafe. She sat across from Carmen.

“Should I be surprised that you make a habit of memorizing my favorite places?” Julia asked, her voice teasing. Carmen smiled as she took a sip of coffee. This was what she was used to. The teasing, the flirting, the little glances and tiny nothings that made up their strange relationship. That was what Carmen was good at.

_ “And  _ your favorite order,” Carmen added, pushing a cup towards Julia. “Don’t downplay my knowledge.”

Julia raised a brow, but took it. “You sure are intriguing, Ms. Sandiego.”

“I try, Agent Argent.” Carmen blew Julia a kiss, causing her face to heat up. “You’re pretty intriguing yourself.”

“Is that why you tracked me down on my day off and tried to make up an excuse to see me?” Julia asked innocently. When Carmen froze, she chuckled. “I find it hard to believe VILE was active in Poitiers without ACME being isaware, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.”

“You’re pretty clever,” Carmen remarked, avoiding the question.

“And you’re pretty…” Julia swallowed back her words. Carmen tilted her head. Julia clearly wanted to say something, most likely pointing out that this was basically a date and asking Carmen about it.

“My ego’s big enough as is,” Carmen winked. Some of Julia’s nervousness melted away as her face broke into a smile. She hesitated. Carmen knew that Julia often hesitated, thinking her words over, and found it endearing. However, this was uncharted territory, and it made Carmen nervous.

“Who would’ve thought that an internationally known super thief had a big ego?” Julia asked, sending a wink of her own. “Really, how  _ do  _ you handle being pretty well known?”

“Other than not revealing my name? It’s pretty easy,” Carmen admitted. “I just keep people talking so they don’t ask questions about me, and I get to find out new facts.” That had been her initial plan with Julia, until she realized that the woman was  _ really cute  _ and working with Devineaux. 

“Is that what you did with me?” Julia guessed.

Carmen smirked. “Guilty as charged. Guess you just… stuck.” She leaned back in her chair. “And here we are.”

“Here we are,” Julia agreed, and instinctively touched her necklace. A nervous habit, that much was clear. Carmen tilted her head in curiosity but said nothing. Nervousness meant one of two things. One; Julia was uncomfortable around her. Two; Julia liked her.

She hoped it was two.

“You know, you never answered my question. Why we  _ are  _ here,” Julia pointed out. She seemed rather eager to get to the point, but Carmen settled for dancing around it a little bit longer.

“You noticed that, huh.”

“Your refusal to answer only confirms that…” Julia trailed off and adjusted her glasses, her cheeks tinged pink.

“Confirms what?” Carmen leaned forward, suddenly intrigued. She propped her chin up on her elbows, her voice  _ almost  _ taunting. “Finish your sentence, Jules.”

“Don’t turn this back to me!” Julia accused.

“I would never do such a thing,” Carmen denied quietly, running her fingertips over the back of Julia’s hand. 

Julia twisted her hand over, intertwining their fingers. “You can’t get out of this by speaking quietly and distracting me,” Julia warned. She watched as Carmen blew a strand of red hair out of her face (admittedly as a distraction technique).

“Oh?” Carmen mused. “Are you sure?” Her eyes flicked up from where they were focused on their hands, and she realized Julia looked determined. “You’re not going to stop until you get a genuine answer,” she realized.

“Nope.”

“Do you  _ really  _ want me to spell it out? Because I might’ve forgotten the question after all this avoiding,” Carmen teased. Julia took a deep breath and asked the question Carmen knew was coming.

“Is this a date?”

“Do you want it do be” was her quick reply

“You’re not answering my question,” Julia reminded her. She studied Carmen’s face closely. “If it helps, my answer is yes.” Her face was red as Carmen’s coat, and the last words came out a mutter, but Carmen still caught it.

She smiled. “I hoped so. I  _ do  _ like you, Jules. A lot. And I went through this entire plan in order to make sure I could see you without making it too obvious, and Player would  _ not shut up about it- _ ”

_ “Carmen,”  _ Julia interrupted. She offered a small smile. “I like you a lot too.”

Carmen smiled again, knowing that Zack now owed Ivy twenty bucks.

**Author's Note:**

> I am just soft and gay and want Julia and Carmen to be happy and gay together.


End file.
